CD-adapco has been involved with simulation in the ground transportation industry for nearly a third of a century.

Initially, simulation was used solely to investigate the cause of a failure. Models were fairly simple that looked only at a specific features of the design, for example to ensure that coolant flow reached the critical areas of an engine design (most likely one that had failed on the testbed).

Today the role of simulation is more mature, and allows engineers to analyze the performance of entire systems of components, operating under real life scenarios - such as a vehicle towing a trailer up a steep hill. Because this data is routinely available from early in the concept phase, engineers can concentrate on optimizing the performance of entire systems, without the need to build expensive prototypes, leading to more robust vehicles, that perform better under real world operating conditions.

This presentation takes a look at different levels of simulation being undertaken today to guide virtual product design. Example applications will include vehicle design and powertrain improvements. These examples show how the automation in STAR-CCM+ can be key enabler for improving the design of tomorrows vehicles.